The Beethoven Minuet has four sections, each of which repeat, then half of it repeats again.  Many minuets, Teacher says, have a trio section – this Beethoven does, the third and fourth of the four sections, but my first three Bach minuets, for example, did not.  The trio section definitely involves a shift in the way the piece feels – I looked up Trio to get more information, and I’m learning from a lovely little article on Hubpages by John Mello that minuets were extended in length, historically speaking, by the addition of a trio section.  Further, the trio section is actually just another minuet.  Minuets with the trio section usually indicate the minuet be played, followed by the trio, then the first minuet again.  That’s exactly what goes on in my new Beethoven piece, in fact, if you click the link above Mello even uses the minuet I’m playing as an example of the form he’s explaining.

We made our way to the end of the tune in my lesson yesterday rather quickly, then we just started playing it – we played it through slowly a couple of times together – it’s exceptionally challenging for me, with all sorts of lovely details to attend.  It’s my new favorite piece in my repertoire – so lovely.

Here’s a performance by Arthur Grumiaux:

Thanks for reading.

Ryan